scrooge quotes

• solitary as an oyster 


  scrooge has chosen to isolate himself and is tightly closed and cannot open up without force. the idea of a pearl within an oyster shows that scrooge does have good in him deep down.
• light as a feather 


  is an idiom

  he is free from his burden of greed and his previous miserly ways
• happy as an angel 


  a lesson to an audience to embrace christian values of helping others. scrooge is able to change is actions so an audience can too
• merry as a school boy


  his time at school was filled with sadness and isolation so he is taking back what he lost as a child - is happier now
• say a word or two 


  wants to go back and speak to Fezziwig. Scrooge is understanding that even a few words can make a big difference to others
• he sobbed and wept 


  Scrooge is showing his vulnerability evoking us to feel pity for him. as well as this, the short sentence focuses us on the importance of Scrooge's childhood
• his sole friend and sole mourner 


  the repetition of the word sole helps to emphasise how isolated Scrooge is from everyone else. Scrooge was all Marley had however Scrooge has his nephew. By choosing to turn away from him, Scrooge, yet again, is going to meet the same consequences as Marley. A play of words on the word 'soul' suggesting that Scrooge now symbolises Marley's soul
• unwatched, unwept, uncared for, was the body of this man 


  the use of triple emphasises that no one is there for Scrooge and no one cares for him. He has turned everyone aways so has done this to himself. at the start of the novella it seemed bleak that Scrooge was the only mourner for Marley but that now seems pleasant compared to Scrooge having no one.
• Are there no prisons?


  rhetorical question - Scrooge believes that the poor don't need his help as there are prisons and workhouses for them. This is similar to the views of upper class victorian society. Charles Dickens wrote this novella to teach the upper class, who could afford the book and could read, that the poor do need their help and it isn't difficult to change. Dickens' view towards the poor is influenced by his childhood where he grew up in a factory whilst his father was in debtors prison
• ‘Buried with a stake of holly through his heart’


  Scrooge is talking about people who celebrate Christmas. He is unable to accept generosity to and from people at Christmas time and to show this he turns happy images of Christmas into violent ones. Also used to show an extreme contrast with his character at the end of the novella when he openly celebrates Christmas and is generous to others.
• bah! humbug 


  means a trick - how Scrooge views Christmas. Scrooge believes Christmas is an excuse of a time to get people to spend money - his miserly qualities don't approve of this. 'bah' helps to show his disgust towards the idea.
• good afternoon 


  Scrooge repeats this 5 times in response to Fred's questioning to emphasise to Fred that the conversation has ended. Fred doesn't protest this and just walks out showing how he has lost hope in letting his uncle in.
• i'll raise your salary 


  Scrooge finally understands that the power he has as an employer can do good to someone. By increasing Bob's salary, he is able to work under nicer conditions and have to worry less about his family living in poverty. It also allows for the Cratchit children to stop working in poor conditions in order to stay alive.
• They had better get on and do it, and reduce the surplus population


  Scrooge has no sympathy for the poor and believes it is their own fault they are living in poverty believing they are a burden to society. The Ghost of Christmas Present echos this back to Scrooge. A reference to Thomas Malthus' theory that if the population continued to grow there wouldn't be enough food and resources for everyone. The poor often had lots of children and couldn't afford to feed them all, Malthus creates an idea of a 'surplus population' that is having an effect on society
• ‘I am prepared to bear your company and do it with a thankful heart’ 


  scrooge has decided to change his attitude and is regretful of the way he has been

  saying this to the GOC yet to come
• ‘A small boy reading alone by a feeble fire’ 

  
  

  reflects Scrooge later in life when he eats his gruel - we feel bad for Scrooge as we learn his loneliness was not by choice and instead due to his weak relationship with his father. Fire could be linked to the motif of light and how Scrooge as a child was lonely yet still welcomed the light in
• ‘Will you let me in fred’ 
• ‘Youre poor enough’ 
• ‘I cannot bear it’ 
• ‘Show me no more’ 
• ‘An excellent man of business’ 
• ‘Some tenderness over his death’ 
• ‘Second father’ 
• ‘Quite a baby!’
• ‘Vision grew cloudy’ 
• 'The cold within him froze his old features' - Dickens describes how Scrooge is frozen by his own bitterness.